God’s Word for You

Deuteronomy 1:1-8 The words that Moses spoke

by Pastor Timothy Smith on Saturday, September 19, 2026

DEUTERONOMY

The name of this book in our Bibles is a Greek word (Δευτερoνόμιoν) meaning “The Repetition of the Law,” based on Deuteronomy 17:18, where it is called “A Copy of this Law.” It was the end of their long journey through the desert, and the original generation of Israelites who were adults when they left Egypt had now almost all died. So Moses preaches a series of sermons to the people to restate the law, except for the specific portions that were just for the priests. Luther guides our understanding when he writes: “This fifth book (of Moses) really contains nothing else than faith toward God and love toward one’s neighbor, for all God’s laws come to that. Therefore, down to the twentieth chapter, Moses guards against everything that might destroy faith in God, and from there to the end of the book he guards against everything that hinders love” (LW 35:238-239).

1 These are the words that Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah opposite Suph, between Paran (on one side) and Tophel, Laban, Hazeroth, and Dizahab (on the other side). 2 It is an eleven days’ journey from Horeb to Kadesh Barnea by the Mount Seir road.

In the final months of the fortieth year, that is, 1406 BC, Moses preached to God’s people as they were about to finally enter the Promised Land. He says frankly and openly that it took them forty years to make a two-week journey. This was on account of their rebellion and unbelief.

The geography of the Sinai, which was where they had been all this time, is essentially this. It is a V-shape, and since I live and preach in Minnesota I will compare them: The Sinai is about one quarter the size (half the length of our state), 240 miles north to south, and 130 miles at its furthest, west (from Egypt) to east (the foot of the Dead Sea). The bottom 1/3 is the very rugged Desert of Sinai, where Mount Sinai is. The middle portion, a little more manageable, is the Desert of Paran. In the wider upper part, the Desert of Shur occupies the western part, next to Egypt’s border, and to the east is the Desert of Zin. Kadesh Barnea is on the western side of that Desert, about 45 miles south-southwest of Gaza. It should not be confused with another Kadesh in the far north on the Orontes River. The other places that Moses names in verse 1 (Tophel, Laban, etc.) are largely unknown to us.

3 In the fortieth year, on the first day of the eleventh month, Moses spoke to the people of Israel everything that the LORD had commanded him about them. 4 This was after he had defeated Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth at Edrei.

The victories over Sihon and Og were important military triumphs, gifts from God to his people, and they will be revisited in this book in chapters 2 and 3. These were Amorite kings of hill-dwelling people, herdsmen who had powerful armies. They worshiped false gods, and the Lord wanted them to be completely wiped out to keep his people from straying into idolatry.

5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, Moses took up the task of explaining this law. He said, 6 “The LORD our God said to us at Horeb, ‘You have stayed long enough at this mountain. 7 Break camp and start your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites and to all their neighbors in the Arabah, in the hill country and in the lowland and in the Negev and by the seacoast (the land of the Canaanites), and the Lebanon range, as far as the great river (the river Euphrates). 8 See, I have given you the land that is ahead of you. Go in and take possession of the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, promising to give to them and to their descendants after them.’”

From where Moses was preaching (on the plains of Moab on the east side of the Jordan, Deuteronomy 34:1), the people could see across the river to the fertile country that was there to the west and north. This was the Promised Land. Repeating the Lord’s words (he refers to the events of Numbers 10:13 and following), Moses describes the seven regions of the land:

1, The hill country of the Amorites. These were the hills to the east and northeast of Galilee.

2, The Arabah. This was the river bed of the Jordan and the Dead Sea.

3, The hill country. This was the mountainous ridge running north and south through the middle of the land, with Mount Ebal and Mount Gerizim to the north, and the mountains surrounding Jerusalem in the south.

4. The lowland (or Shephelah). These were the foothills to the west of the mountains, where many battles were fought with the Philistines in later years.

5. The Negev. This was the desert region to the south and was essentially the borderland between Canaan and the northern Sinai deserts, so it stands as the border of those traveling to or from Egypt (Genesis 12:9, 13:1; Obadiah 1:20).

6, The seacoast (the land of the Canaanites). The long seacoast of the Mediterranean runs in a diagonal from the south-southwest (Gaza) to the north-northeast (Lebanon). Along this coast, due west of Galilee, is Mount Carmel that juts out into the sea.

7. The Lebanon range, as far as the great river (the river Euphrates). This northern mountain range curves eastward and includes the towering Mount Hermon.

Moses proclaims to the people what their past had been, including the obvious sins of their ancestors, and also the blessings that lay ahead in the form of a land long-promised to them, now finally within their sight. There would be difficulties; obstacles to overcome. There were enemies to be conquered, driven out, and defeated. But God would be with them. The Lord God does not make promises to us and then leave us on our own, When he gives a gift, he gives us the ability to use it. Just as he promised to help them conquer what was ahead, he also promises to help us to overcome temptation and sin with his word.

Israel was on the verge of a new beginning, a new life, a new everything. Today, perhaps you are, too. We don’t know exactly what our tomorrow will look like. We can think about the places where we’ve been—like the stopping-places in the desert that lay behind the Israelites. We can think about obstacles that have already been overcome (like Sihon and the gigantic Og). There will be more battles ahead, and God will be with us. And we may have faced what seemed like long delays in our lives—something like Israel’s forty-year journey in the desert. But God was with them.

We also think about God’s word in our life, the gospel of his grace, and how it’s good to hear it over and over again, just as Moses was preaching at this moment. We have the forgiveness of our sins, and a great many possibilities stretching out ahead of us. We put our faith in Jesus our Savior, and he will be with us always.

In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith

 

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